When you get unearthed uncleaned/unsearched ancient coins that look like a round hard piece of mud: How much cleaning do you do? When do you stop and when do you keep going? What are the best tools? Brass brush? Tooth Brush? Acid brush? Olive oil? Dental tools? Please give me some guidance. Thanks Darryl P.S. – I understand that most if not all uncleaned/unsearched are probably anything but uncleaned/unsearched. The dealers probably spend a fair amount of time looking at what they sell to customers. As a hobby for a father and son what should we use.
If you want my advice... Take them first and put them in some hot water with a bit of dish washing soap...let them soak for just a bit...not that long...half an hour to an hour. Keep the water hot and soapy... If when you pull them out the dirt is not coming off by rubbing them with your finger, still very crusty with no detail...it would be okay to use a soft brass brush...otherwise I would use a short bristled toothbrush (cut the bristles down a bit.) if there is detail showing through, with the tough brush you risk scrapeing the coin. Now I prefer soaking in Distilled water first before oil...simply because if the water isnt working you can use the oil...but cant go the other way around...once a coin has been soaking in oil...water will be pretty ineffective. If I see a good area where I can pick off crust (crust starts to lossen unevenly sometimes giving you edges to pick and pry at) I use a dental pick as you say...some would also recommend a diamond tipped tool but I dont think that is really needed. Let your coins soak for a good long time...days or even months...in distilled water or oil...once in awhile its okay to pull them out...give them a scrub with some soap and little by little you might see the dirt coming off... If in a year or 2 its still super crusty, there are other methods but I wouldnt recommend them unless you know what you are doing as you could ruin your coin completely...its best to take the time...some will start showing progress quickly, others takes month or more than a year... Certainly dont expect the best coins but I have found a few gems the dealer missed while picking out the choice ones and you are better off with the REAL crusty ones because they are a bit hard to cull when they cant see the details under the crust. I would stop when you start to hit patina...going further will expose what is often an ugly pitted surface examples: This coin was cleaned just right...it was very crusty but the dirt is almost completely gone but a nice patina remains...some might say a little metal is showing through on the peaks but its so little, I dont mind at all...this came out just right. This coin IMO was overcleaned...its cleaned down to the pitted ugly surface and I think if it was cleaned a bit more carefully there is enough detail in this coin that with a nice patina it would have been rather nice...as it is...its a mess. The only time I go down to the metal is if the detail is SO flattened that I know after carefull study that the only way I might even get a bit of detail at all is to go down to the metal...the almost slugs...If you can see detail...dont go down to the metal if you can help it.
good advice. follow-up question: once you've done your long-term soaking, either in distilled or oil, and you've cleaned with picks, brushes, etc., what's the best way to prepare the coins for storage? in other words, i've got a nice looking coin that's dripping with olive oil. do i wash it off in soap and water, and give it a short bake in the oven at low heat to drive off any moisture? do i simply let it air dry, or would that lead to corrosion? and what do folks think about dipping in ren wax or similar? thanks! v.
v: I would wash it off, using a dish detergent, not a harsh soap, and then carefully dry it, without rubbing. This has worked on Indian Head cents that I have dug while metal detecting. Also, soaking in olive oil for a period of time helps to remove the dirt crud.
If the coin is completely covered, I will soak in oil for a week, scrub with a brash brush for about 15 mins., then let it soak again. Once I see the TINIEST bit of new metal show through, I stop with the brass brush, and instead move on to dental tools and a nylon brush. If you completely mess up a coin (i.e., all shiny metal, killed the patina), you can give it an artificial patina using certain products you can find at art stores. This is certainly unorthodox, but if you don't plan on selling it (and coins in that condition aren't worth much, anyway), then at least you can attribute it and make it look somewhat decent again.
